Tag: Simcha Felder

In a fight between Bill de Blasio's Department of Education and the yeshivas that teach the children of Haredi or Ultra-Orthodox Jews, it might seem like the Department of Education is the 800-pound-giant. The yeshivas are said to give too little attention to English, math, and other secular subjects, if they teach them at all.…

New York City Councilman David Greenfield shocked observers on Monday by announcing that he would retire from the Council to lead the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. The two-term Councilman from Midwood and Borough Park was widely-recognized as the leading Orthodox Jew in New York City elected office. The chair of the Council's powerful Land…

The ongoing feud about control of the state Senate took another turn last week. Remind me: what's going on? Even though there are 32 Democrats and 31 Republicans in the Senate, Republicans control the body because nine of the Democrats support the Republican leadership. Eight of the nine are members of the Independent Democratic Conference and…

Right now, the top news in the New York politics is the story of the State Senate’s lulu payments, the extra money that legislators in leadership positions earn. A New York Times investigation discovered that seven Senators (three Independent Democrats and four Republicans) earned lulus for positions they did not hold. While the legal fallout…

Last week, we mentioned that the Independent Democrats in the State Senate are earning more money thanks to their alliance giving Republicans control. Turns out, there's a lot more to the story of the Senate lulu payments. Catch me up: Even though there is a 32-31 majority of Democrats in the State Senate, nine of…

Republicans control the State Senate but it's a tenuous hold. Even though there are 32 Democratic State Senators and 31 Republicans, Republicans hold power thanks to nine Democrats, mostly in the Independent Democratic Conference, who support them. Republican Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan (R-Long Island), a moderate in the Republican camp, has been able to work with…

It's counterintuitive but even on as local an issue as speed limits on a street, state government matters. State Senator Simcha Felder (Brooklyn) introduced a bill to raise speed limits on Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, one of the main street in his district. Felder, a registered Democrat who joined the Republican Party in the Senate, got…